At the time of her primary victory on August 11, 2012, Gabbard was a member of the Honolulu City Council. She subsequently resigned her seat on the City Council, stating that she wanted to prevent the cost of a separate special election.

Gabbard previously served as Hawaii’s youngest state representative, elected in 2002, and was the youngest woman in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. She is currently a Company Commander with the Hawaii Army National Guard, and has volunteered to serve on two deployments to the Middle East. She is also vice-president and co-founder of the environmental non-profit organization Healthy Hawaii Coalition.